Air ventilation system for a partial-pressure suit



J. M. HAWKINS AIR VENTILATION SYSTEM FOR A PARTIAL PRESSURE SUIT April 14, 1970 Filed Jan. 17, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Tame: Hilde/l H k/n INVENTOR:

BY EM J. M. HAWKINS,

April 14, 1970 AIR VENTILATION SYSTEM FOR A PARTIAL PRESSURE sun? Filed Jan. 17, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jame! Ml hc. luu/y inl INVENTOR:

United States Patent US. C]. 128 1 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment particularly intended for Wear by the occupants of high-speed fighter aircraft, having a built-in partial-pressure bladder system inflatable with gaseous medium and arranged internally of its outer covering, is provided with an air-ventilation system comprising a manifold connected to an independent low-pressure air supply and flexible distribution tubes, leading from this manifold to appropriate parts of the garment, said manifold and tubes being arranged between the bladder system and a permeable lining for the garment.

This invention relates to inflatable garments of the type incorporating a system of bladders adapted to be filled with a gaseous fluid and thereby to exert pressure over predetermined areas of the wearers body.

Such garments are usually described as partial-pressure to distinguish them from full-pressure suits having the gaseous inflation medium contained between the suit and the wearers person, which must therefore be completely enclosed, or at least gripped in a substantially fluidtight manner wherever it emerges from the suit.

Partial-pressure suits are normally worn by the occupants of military aircraft operating at high altitudes, for protection against the the harmful effects of low ambient pressure should the aircrafts internal pressurization system fail or be damaged by enemy action, the supply of inflating medium (usually oxygen) being controlled by a pressure-sensitive valve.

It is desirable for the occupant of a fighter aircraft also to be protected against the physiological effects of accelerations greater than that of gravity in the course of highspeed manoeuvres. Known anti-G garments are likewise provided with a built-in system of bladders designed, when in use, to constrict the lower part of his body and thereby prevent blacking-out by resisting the flow of blood from the wearers head under centrifugal force.

At the present time, it is customary for aircrew operating at high altitudes to wear sleeved partial-pressure jerkins which are supplemented, in the case of fighter pilots, by separate anti-G garments to provide inflatable coverage for the whole body.

The present invention has for its object to increase the comfort of any wearer of an inflatable garment of the type referred to, whether the partial-pressure bladder system be supplemented by anti-G protection or otherwise.

According to this invention, the garment is provided with an air-ventilation system comprising a manifold connected to an independent low-pressure air supply and mounted on the inner side of the partial-pressure bladder system, and distribution tubes leading from such manifold to appropriate parts of the suit, which is provided with a permeable'lining over the said tubes.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an inflatable garment embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

3,505,990 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 ice FIG. 3 is an enlarged section on the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1; a

"FIG. 4 is a plan view of the manifold and air-distribution tubes; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section of the manifold on the line 55 of FIG. 4.

'In the example illustrated the suit is constructed generally as described in thespecification of our prior patent application aforesaid; that is tosa'y, it is made" up from suitably shaped panels of nylon or polyethylene terephthalate fabric with-its sleeves attached only at the upper parts of the suit shoulders, the resultant under-arm gaps being filled in with elas'ticated gussets A. j

Enclosed lacing sections (indicated at B) are provided down the sides and legs of the suit so that the latter can be adjusted to the size of the wearer around the torso, thighs, and shins, the legs of the garment having slidefasteners C up their inner sides and suitable fullness at the knee and crotch regions for ease of wear in a sitting position.

The front and back of the suit are respectively inflatable by means of intercommunicating bladders D, E contained between inner and outer fabric layers F, G and adapted to be fed with oxygen through an inlet H at the centre of the chest. This partial-pressure system, which covers the torso, arms and legs except for the seat region and part of the small of the back, includes a small bladder I covering a closable urination aperture J in the front of the suit and contained in a separate cover K.

The anti-G protection takes the form of a separate bladder L overlying the abdomen and leg portions of the partial-pressure system and either attached directly to the latter or contained in a pocket M sewn to the outer skin G of the garment, being so arranged as to compress the lower half of the body when inflated by air pressure supplied through a hose N.

The air ventilation system comprises a manifold O mounted on the inner side of the partial-pressure bladder D at chest level and flexible tubes P P etc. leading from angularly-spaced positions around the rim of such manifold to appropriate parts of the suit (for example the neck, trunks, legs and upper arms). In the typical arrangement shown, nine tubes of different length and bore are provided, all of these except P and P being fitted with reducing nozzles Q at their free ends and perforated as at R for a suitable distance from the latter.

The manifold O is produced by uniting a tubular neck S to one of two oval rubber panels which are cemented together around their peripheries to grip the several distribution tubes and suitably stiffened elsewhere. Lowpressure air is fed to this manifold through a flexible hose T fixed in the neck S and issues from the extremities of the radiating tubes, which are covered by a perforated (or otherwise permeable) layer U of fabric united at its edges to the inner skin F of the garment to ensure that the cooling air uniformly distributed over the body by way of the perforations in the covering fabric. At least one of the tubes (for example P may actually pass through an opening in the inner skin F to supply air to the wearers neck region and helmet.

The sequential arrangement of the other distributio tubes around the rim of the manifold O, and the locations of their respective free ends with reference to the suit, is a matter of choice, but in the convenient arrangement shown, the tubes P P lead to opposite under-arm regions, the tubes P P to opposite sides of the garment back, the tubes P P to opposite thigh regions, the tube P to the groin, and the tube P to the chest of the garment.

What I claim is:

1. An inflatable garment comprising an outer covering, a system of connected bladders arranged internally of said covering and adapted on inflation to exert pressure over all areas of the wearers body except the joint regions, a manifold disposed at the inner side of such bladder system and adapted to be fed with air at low pressure, flexible distribution tubes leading from such manifold to parts of the suit requiring ventilation, and a permeable lining separating said tubes from the wearer.

2. An inflatable garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said manifold is mounted upon a front part of said bladder system at chest level.

3. An inflatable garment as claimed in claim 1, Wherein said tubes issue from said manifold at positions spaced angularly around the periphery of the latter.

4. An inflatable garment as claimed in claim 1, Wherein said manifold include two marginally-united oval rubher panels, stiffened at their central parts, one such panel having a tubular neck for connection to a supply hose.

5. An inflatable garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein some at least of said tubes have their free end portions perforated and provided with reducing nozzles.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 687,195 5/1964 Canada. 675,750 12/1963 Canada.

L. W. TRAPP, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 12824 

